Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is leading a coalition of eight state attorneys general in strongly opposing the University Participant Agreement recently issued by the newly formed College Sports Commission (CSC). The coalition argues that the agreement, which the CSC is demanding Power Four conference schools sign immediately without any input, contains drastic provisions that would severely punish universities—even if the CSC itself is found to have broken the law—simply for being connected to lawsuits filed by student-athletes, state officials, or others challenging CSC rules or enforcement actions.

Among the most criticized elements are requirements that schools waive jury trial rights, accept mandatory arbitration (which many public universities are legally barred from doing), agree to broad gag orders that silence institutions from advocating for legal changes or consulting their own state attorneys general, and submit to an opaque enforcement system with arbitrary penalties and no independent oversight. In a letter sent to the CSC and the commissioners of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC, the attorneys general warn that the agreement would harm student-athletes, eliminate transparency, and devastate schools financially and competitively for exercising basic legal rights.

They suggest the document is so flawed it may be intentionally designed to fail, possibly to build support for the controversial SCORE Act in Congress, which they say pursues similar goals of shielding a new governing body from accountability. Skrmetti and his colleagues urge the CSC to withdraw the agreement entirely, engage in genuine consultation with member institutions, and craft a revised framework that prioritizes transparency, due process, student-athlete welfare, and compliance with the law, emphasizing that centralized power without accountability has already proven untrustworthy under the NCAA’s previous regime.